Austin and with future husband, Bob, was on the university grounds when sniper Charles Whitman started firing from the library tower. ``I hid out in the Architecture Building, while Bob took cover behind the statue of Jefferson Davis and his horse.'' One Peace Corps volunteer was killed and another wounded.
Judy Zahn served in Turkey with the Peace Corps in the 1960's
Judy Zahn
EAST SIDE ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM, OVERFELT AND ANDREW HILL CENTERS, SAN JOSE
Years of service: 32
Background: Zahn, 61, graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1966 with a bachelor's in history and English and then joined the Peace Corps. She trained at the University of Texas-
Austin and with future husband, Bob, was on the university grounds when sniper Charles Whitman started firing from the library tower. ``I hid out in the Architecture Building, while Bob took cover behind the statue of Jefferson Davis and his horse.'' One Peace Corps volunteer was killed and another wounded.
She served two years in Turkey and was married by the Air Force chaplain in the Italian embassy chapel.
Zahn has a master's in linguistics from San Jose State University and a certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and holds a standard secondary teaching credential and a community college credential. She teaches English as a Second Language to adults and lives in San Jose.
She and her husband have three grown children and one grandson.
Hobbies: Gardening, reading, exercising at the Family YMCA.
Toughest day at work: ``The morning I learned that Pam Lewis, a dear friend and fellow teacher at Overfelt Adult Center, had passed away from cancer the previous evening.''
When she was a student: ``Because I took both French and Latin for three years in school, had an intensive Turkish course in Peace Corps training, and spent four years in Bolivia struggling with Spanish, I can really empathize with my students learning English.''
Misconceptions about ESL students: ``No one in my class is on welfare. At least a quarter of them come to my morning class at 8:45 after working most of the night, often as janitors. Many of the other 75 percent go to work after class.''
How did you pick your area of teaching: ``It was chosen for me by the Peace Corps, and I really loved it.''
Most rewarding thing about teaching: The relationships that develop. ``My students are so appreciative; I think they see their first teacher as the one who throws them a life preserver in the dark from a sinking ship.''
Any differences between the way adults and children learn: ``Adult learners bring a fully developed intellect, a personal history of life experiences, and disciplined emotions to the classroom experience. There is no law demanding that they stay in school; they are there because they want to be.''
-- Sara Hazlewood
